The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has released an unnerving illustration showing whereabouts in America the majority of Lyme disease cases are deriving from.
The news comes just days after 44-year-old Justin Timberlake became the latest huge-name star to open up about his recent diagnoses of the incurable condition.
Taking to Instagram on Thursday, the 'Cry Me A River' singer told his fans: "If you’ve experienced this disease or know someone who has — then you’re aware: living with this can be relentlessly debilitating, both mentally and physically.
"When I first got the diagnosis I was shocked for sure."
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Timberlake also lifted the lid on the 'a massive amount of nerve pain' he experienced while performing on stage in the months prior to his diagnosis, as well as 'crazy fatigue or sickness'.
As we say, however, a Lyme disease diagnosis is hardly considered surprising news in the celebrity sphere anymore, with a whole horde of other A-listers also battling the same condition.
This includes Ben Stiller, Riley Keogh, Kelly Osbourne, Amy Schumer, and Alec Baldwin, as well as Justin Bieber, Shania Twain, and Avril Lavigne, and Yolanda and Bella Hadid.
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Being that this bacterial infection - which is transmitted when a person is bitten by a tick - seems to have Hollywood in a chokehold in particular, many spectators have been wondering how exactly so many stars have caught it.
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And while a number of expert medical theories have been proposed in response to this question, one location seems to keep coming up in discussions - the Hamptons.
Explaining how Timberlake might have been bitten, one Reddit user recently suggested: "It’s from the Hamptons. All celebrities with it have been there. I’m pretty sure it’s close to where he got his DUI."
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Another agreed, adding of celebs as a whole: "They all vacationed in the Hamptons, which is a hot bed for ticks with Lyme disease.”
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A third went on to say: "This. I’ve been telling people this over and over. They spend a lot of time in the Hamptons, especially JT, which is known for Lyme disease ticks. If you look at Lyme disease hotspots across the U.S. the Hamptons is filled in like a damn colouing book.”
It might be worth emphasising here that ticks tend to be more prevalent in the countryside - especially in areas with dense vegetation, like tall grasses and leaf litter, and where livestock and wild animals are in abundance.
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It seems, however, that what started off as a Reddit suggestion has proven pretty accurate, with a map released by the CDC showing an increasing amount of cases in this area.
An illustration from 1995 shows a dense cluster of cases in the New York area, particularly on the South Fork of Long Island, where The Hamptons are.
By 2010, these clusters seem to have spread from this area of New York to surrounding states, including Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maryland, and even as far as into Vermont, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
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And by 2023 - the latest recording of these figures - the density around New York is at an all-time high, with tick counts on the increase into states that are further afield, including into Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, West Virginia and Michigan,
Further supporting this assertion is a report by Lords Lane - a Hamptons news website - which states that the Regional Tick-Borne Disease Resource Center at the Stony Brook Southampton Hospital said their helpline has received over 7,000 calls since 2014, with 843 in 2024 alone.
Speaking to the publication, Rebecca Young, RN, BSN, Patient Navigator at the Tick-Borne Disease Resource Center, explained: "We’re seeing a dramatic increase in Lyme cases across Long Island, but the concentration in the Hamptons is particularly concerning.
"The combination of our woodland landscape, large deer populations, and increasingly mild winters has created ideal conditions for tick proliferation."
Topics: Lyme disease, Celebrity, US News, Health
Rhianna Benson